Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His real name is Steven Allen Spielberg. He was born on December 18, 1946. His mother’s name was Leah Adler and his father's name was Arnold Spielberg. He had three sisters Anne, Susan and Nancy.

He went to Saratoga High School. He started high school in September 1961. He didn't like school very much because he was bullied and picked on. During the summers, Steven visited Universal Studios in Los Angeles. His parents divorced during his senior year of high school and he went with his dad to San Jose, California.

Steven loved to make movies with his dad’s camera. He won a prize for movies when he was 13 years old. Before moving to California, Steven was a boy scout and enjoyed filming his family vacations. He played the clarinet at school. The night before moving to California, he showed his feature length film, Firelight, in a movie theatre.

Steven was hired by Chuck Silvers as an unpaid clerical assistant in Universal’s editorial department. He took advantage of this opportunity to observe techniques and watch films. At the end of summer, Steven attended California State College at Long Beach, CA. He studied English as the school did not have a film department. He worked in the college cafeteria to earn money to make films

His film, Amblin was 26 minutes long and didn’t have any words (dialog). Steven showed it to Chuck Silvers who had hired him. Mr. Silvers liked the film so much he cried. He showed it to Sidney Sheinberg who offered Steven a job as director of television shows. He became the youngest filmmaker to sign a long-term contract (7 years). Steven really wanted to direct movies but hoped they would eventually switch him to them.

He got his chance three years later. In 1968, Steven directed a movie for TV, Duel. It was a success. He made another movie, Sugarland Express. It didn’t do well but received good feedback.

Next, Steven directed Jaws in 1974. It was the most successful movie of its time when it was released in 1975. The success of Jaws helped Steven to be able to pick what movies he wanted to make. He made a movie about UFO’s - Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

On vacation with George Lucas they discussed the idea for Raiders of the Lost Ark. It opened at the box office in 1981. He followed this movie with E.T. in 1982, which was also a hit. Steven wanted to start his own film company, “Amblin.” He directed a lot of movies such as Gremlins, The Goonies, and Back to the Future. Because of the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, a movie he directed, a new rating was developed, PG-13. In 1985, he married Amy Irving. They later divorced in 1989.

After his divorce to Amy Irving, Steven continued to make movies. He made a movie about dinosaurs called Jurassic Park. He made a movie called Schindler’s List which won 7 Academy Awards including Best Director. Steven is inspired by the Holocaust survivors and created The Survivors of the Shoah Natural History Foundation.

In 1993, Steven had the most success by a film maker with these two movies. This is when he decided to take time off and spend time with his wife Kate Capshaw, who he married in 1991.

In 1994, Steven partners with Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen to create a new movie studio, “Dreamworks.” He decided to film Saving Private Ryan. This movie was based on a true story and Steven wanted to make it for his father. Steven’s father was a role model for him, sharing many of his WWII stories with him. Steven won an Academy Award for Best Director. He received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, in 2003. Steven says, “I love telling stories.”

Steven is considered a hero because of how he has changed how movies are made. I like him because he loves to direct movies and I like movies. He has the movie rights for the 39 Clues series.